THE HAGUE (Reuters) – The Netherlands faces a legal challenge on Monday over accusations that its role in the export of F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel makes it complicit in alleged war crimes in Gaza.
Three human rights organisations, including the Dutch arm of Oxfam, have brought the case at the district court in The Hague, stating the export of the fighter plane parts enables Israel to bomb the Gaza strip.
“Israel disregards the fundamental principles of the laws of war, such as distinguishing between civilian and military targets and the principle of proportionality,” in the bombing of the Gaza strip, the organisations said in their court filings.
Israel denies having carried out war crimes, saying its forces abide by international law while fighting Palestinian militants who operate in densely populated civilian areas.
The Netherlands is home to a regional warehouse which stores U.S.-owned F-35 parts, which can be sent on to other F-35 partner countries such as Israel.
Several weeks after the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks, the Dutch government allowed a shipment of reserve parts for Israeli F-35s, government documents show.
The Dutch Defence ministry, which oversees the exports, would not comment on the court case, but in a letter to parliament last week said that, based on the current information, “it cannot be established that the F-35s are involved in grave violations of the humanitarian laws of war”.
More than 15,400 inhabitants of the Gaza strip have been killed as of Sunday, according to the Palestinian Bureau of Statistics, in nearly two months of warfare that broke out after the Hamas cross-border raid on southern Israel in which 1,200 Israelis were killed and more than 200 taken hostage.
The court case will start at 10 a.m. CET (0900 GMT) and will hear the claimants’ case and a response by lawyers for the Dutch state. A ruling is expected in two weeks.
(Reporting by Stephanie van den Berg; Editing by David Holmes)
